Robinhood adds AI agents, crypto perps and weekend stock trading

Robinhood targets active traders with new tools

Robinhood (HOOD) announced a set of new products on Tuesday at its HOOD Summit in Houston, Texas, aiming to win more business from active traders. The brokerage introduced AI agents that can execute trades, crypto perpetual futures with up to 10 times leverage, and weekend trading for select U.S. stocks and ETFs.

Robinhood is also extending options trading hours, offering more intraday margin, and adding contracts that let users trade on corporate earnings metrics.

Key additions unveiled at HOOD Summit

• Weekend trading will be available for a selection of U.S. stocks and ETFs on Saturdays and Sundays through Bruce ATS, an alternative trading system. This fills the weekend gap left by Robinhood's 24 Hour Market, which launched in 2023.
• Robinhood Agents will let customers create an AI agent inside the app, choosing a model from OpenAI or Anthropic. The agent can analyze markets, build watchlists, and trade stocks, options and crypto using a separate trading account.
• A feature called Loops will allow customers to give the agent standing instructions for automated strategies, so it can trade repeatedly without waiting for a new prompt.
• Crypto perpetual futures will be offered to eligible U.S. customers, with leverage of up to 10 times on bitcoin and ether. Perpetual futures are crypto contracts that let traders bet on price moves without a set expiry date.

What company executives said

Abhishek Fatehpuria, Robinhood's vice president of product management, said one of the company's top priorities is to be number one for active traders. "We're not focused on one particular asset class over another," he said in an interview.

Describing the strategy, Fatehpuria said: "More assets, and then more hours."

Why this matters

Robinhood is competing for active traders as traditional brokers such as Charles Schwab, Interactive Brokers and Fidelity expand their trading products. Crypto exchanges have conditioned a generation of investors to expect markets that never close, and Robinhood is borrowing from that crypto playbook with longer hours and more ways to take risk.

Crypto trades around the clock every day, while U.S. stocks have traditionally traded only during weekday sessions. The New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq have also filed to expand their trading hours, according to the source.

What is confirmed

Confirmed details from the announcement include: AI agents that can execute trades using OpenAI or Anthropic models, crypto perpetual futures with up to 10 times leverage on bitcoin and ether for eligible U.S. customers, and weekend trading for select U.S. stocks and ETFs through Bruce ATS. Robinhood is also extending options hours, adding more intraday margin, and introducing earnings-metric contracts.

What is still unclear

The announcement did not specify which stocks and ETFs will be available for weekend trading, when each feature will launch, or which customers will be eligible for the new products.

Sources

• CoinDesk